


Stressful Days

by GoldenWyvern



Series: Lloyd and Energy Dregon: Adventures in Ninjago [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Attempt at Humor, Bonding, Could Be Canon, Dragons, Elemental Dragons (Ninjago), Fluff, Ninjas are briefly mentioned, The energy dragon does not have it's own tag :(, post-ns7, pre-ns8, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26905105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenWyvern/pseuds/GoldenWyvern
Summary: The sky was beginning to grow dark as bright orange was slowly painted over by purple and dark blue. The sun was retreating behind the mountains reminding Lloyd that he should probably head back home. Lloyd had buried his face in his hands before letting out an exasperated sigh."Let's head back." Lloyd patted his dragon's back.Lloyd jerked the reins of his dragon in an attempt to signal it to move. To his surprise the dragon did not move and  instead gave a grunt in protest. Lloyd looked down at it with a frown."Come on now, let's go." Lloyd said, trying to coax it into moving.With a loud huff the dragon bobbed its head to the side. Its sentiment was clear as it looked Lloyd dead in the eye.No."W-what?!" Lloyd had sputtered. "What do you mean no?!"Lloyd had always known their elemental dragons had some levels of sentience but this was kind of pushing it.(I really like the concept of the ninja's elemental dragons and I had always favored the design of Lloyd's dragon. I was very disappointed to learn that the elemental dragons won't be coming back to the show. So I decided to be the provider of my own content. Please enjoy some Lloyd and his elemental dragon bonding.)
Relationships: Lloyd Garmadon & The Energy Dragon
Series: Lloyd and Energy Dregon: Adventures in Ninjago [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1963141
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Stressful Days

**Author's Note:**

> Re-watching HTTYD and Bee & Puppycat has really inspired this work. I plan on making this a mini series with just moments of Lloyd and his elemental dragon. I am planning on making another story with a longer plot and an interesting story line. But for now this is just my way of practicing my writing and story making skills. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think and how I can improve.

Lloyd had, to say the least, a difficult life. With all the fighting and trauma he's been through, Lloyd was no stranger to having rough days. There were days where he'd find himself waking up to the strong emotion of sadness. On those days his mind would stray to the less pleasant times in his life. Like his time at Darkley's, Pythor's betrayal, but most times it was about his father. On some days Lloyd would wake up feeling angry, most of that anger was usually focused on how unfair destiny seemed to be treating him. 

There were multiple occasions where Lloyd had lashed out on unfortunate training dummies and punching bags. Usually the outcome of the equipment was beyond repair. In the aftermath Lloyd always felt guilty. Sometimes Lloyd would find a secluded area and just let himself think. Usually he would stay there until he got a hold of his emotions. On particularly rough days he'd find himself crying. When he cried he usually stayed in his remote area long enough to hide any evidence of his tears. Sometimes he stayed away for a long, long time. But he never stayed for more than a day. 

Lloyd didn't really like crying in front of people. When his father had been banished to the Cursed Realm, Lloyd had disappeared a lot. He shied away when the others offered to help and had, at one point, outright refused to talk. It took a while before the ninja were able to to break down his walls. But when they did Lloyd found himself way more open to talking to them.

It was a while after being possessed by Morro, when Lloyd was the most open about his troubles. For a long time whenever Lloyd was having a rough day he talked to one of the ninja. He'd even go to his uncle from time to time. For the most part, Lloyd didn't resort to secluding himself and the training equipment were spared from his rather harsh methods of ventage. For a while Lloyd had found himself happier and he was having fewer hard times.

That was until Master Wu became lost in time and the team had to separate. Lloyd didn't really take the news well. He was angry, sad, but most of all hurt. It hurt to think about his teammates leaving him and it hurt to think about the prospect of being alone, again. But Lloyd didn't speak on this, finding Master Wu was more important than his feelings right now. He wasn't going to be selfish. As much as he wanted to keep them together they needed to find their Sensei. Lloyd understood this and had come to terms with this. Begrudgingly, Lloyd had let them go. He would stay in the city and look for his sensei there.

For the first few days, Lloyd felt extremely sad and he felt like all the progress he made was rapidly declining. Despite this, Lloyd worked extra hard to look for his uncle. The sooner they found his uncle the faster they could get the team back together. He circled the city multiple times on his elemental dragon for many days. Each day he would search a different area of Ninjago city. Sometimes he chose West, sometimes East, sometimes South, other times North. Those days soon drew into months and during those days it was brought to his attention that his elemental dragon was more sentient than he realized. 

It was first brought to his attention on a particularly hard day. He hadn't woken up in the best of moods but it didn't stop Lloyd from getting up and patrolling the city. He was determined to find his uncle but the multiple days of searching for his uncle with no hint or clue on his whereabouts was frustrating him to no end. But he had bottled those emotions and continued to search vigorously. It was that particular day where all his pent up frustrations caught up to him.

So as the large green elemental dragon circled the city for the umpteenth time, flying over the same familiar layouts of the city, Lloyd felt something in him snap. Anger had begun to bubble up inside him as his frustrations had reached its peak. The absence of his uncle and teammates was suffocating and the constant pursuit for any sign of his uncle (with no prevail) was driving him mad. Lloyd couldn't keep his emotions bottled up anymore.

Lloyd had glared ahead at the sky as his elemental dragon glided over the city, the constant honking from traffic and hums of construction was filtered into background noise as Lloyd's thoughts began to race. Lloyd bit his lip as his face contorted into one of frustration. Lloyd had let out a loud yell and angrily waved his hands up in the air, before slumping his back down on the elemental dragon's back.

The long plates along the dragon's head perked up as it slightly recoiled at Lloyd's outburst. It let out a soft grunt as it sent a glance over its shoulder at Lloyd. Lloyd silently laid there on the dragon's back for a while, he looked up at the sky with a look of frustration and sadness. A low growl had vibrated along Lloyd's body as the dragon continued to soar through the sky.

With a frown Lloyd pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked down at the dragon. The dragon was peaking it's head over its shoulder and looking its red eyes into Lloyd's green ones. For a second they shared a brief look before Lloyd growled and turned his attention back on the city below. 

"Urgh!" Lloyd had roared.

"Where is he?" He had shouted, clenching the reins of his dragon. "Why can't we find him?"

Lloyd really wasn't talking to anyone at the time, just screaming at the sky. 

"What am I doing wrong?" Lloyd's voice had begun to waver. " Why is it always my family who gets hurt?"

"Why is it always someone who goes missing or dies?!"

"Why can't we just catch a break!?"

"Why can't destiny just leave us alone!?"

"Leave me alone!"

Lloyd could remember himself beginning to spiral further into his angry rant. His emotions unraveled with each word as he spewed his angry thoughts onto the sky. He vaguely remembered himself beginning to fall into a more dangerous territory as green energy began to flicker from his palms. But before he could do anything he might regret a low croon snapped him out of his enraged haze.

At first the noise startled him and it took him a few seconds to process where it came from, before he looked down at his elemental dragon. He found it looking back up at him with glowing red eyes. Lloyd had let out a sharp exhale in an attempt to to relieve his frustration. 

"I'm sorry." He said, taking a deep breath. "It's...okay. I'm good now."

Lloyd had relaxed his grip on the dragon's reins and used his hands to emphasize his words. The dragon let out as a deep warble as it continued to hover across the air. The sky was beginning to grow dark as bright orange was slowly painted over by purple and dark blue. The sun was retreating behind the mountains reminding Lloyd that he should probably head back home. Lloyd had buried his face in his hands before letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Let's head back." Lloyd patted his dragon's back.

Lloyd jerked the reins of his dragon in an attempt to signal it to move. To his surprise the dragon did not move and instead gave a grunt in protest. Lloyd looked down at it with a frown.

"Come on now, let's go." Lloyd said, trying to coax it into moving.

With a loud huff the dragon bobbed its head to the side. Its sentiment was clear as it looked Lloyd dead in the eye.

 **No**.

"W-what?!" Lloyd had sputtered. "What do you mean no?!"

Lloyd had always known their elemental dragons had some levels of sentience but this was kind of pushing it.

"Come on now, quit playing around." Lloyd said, holding in his growing frustration. "I want to go home."

The dragon let out a grunt before jerking it's body upwards. The dragon jackknifed and leaned it's body into a dive. Lloyd let out a shriek at the dragon's unexpected movement and he gripped the reins, tightly.

"Stop!" He yelled. "What are you doing!?"

If the dragon heard him, it ignored him. The dragon continued to plummet towards the ground before extending its wings up and catching the wind like a parachute. The dragon bobbed briefly as it righted itself before flapping its wings and soaring forward. Wind slapped at Lloyd's face as the dragon shot forward passed the city's roofs.

"Stop!" Lloyd yelled. "Stop I said!" 

The dragon grunted mischievously before flapping it's wings to launch itself straight upwards. Lloyd had let out a frightened shriek as the dragon gained immense acceleration. With each beat of its wings, Lloyd felt his body buck. The dragon heaved them into the sky like a speeding rocket. For a brief moment the dragon paused and hovered above the sky. It was at this point Lloyd managed to get a glimpse of how high they were. Lloyd gaped at how far the city was from them and how close the clouds were.

"Put me down!" Lloyd commanded the dragon. "Now!"

The dragon turned and raised a brow at him before it's features curled into a...smirk?! Before Lloyd could process what the dragon was up to now, his elemental dragon let out smug snort and leaned its right wing downward. It was at this brief moment Lloyd knew, as the dragon's belly was now fully facing sideways, he made a poor choice in words. The dragon rolled and plummeted towards the ground. It felt like a roller coaster, only this roller coaster would not be approved to the public. 

The churning in Lloyd's gut tightened as the roofs of the city began to get steadily closer. The dragon soon pulled up just before colliding with the roof of a skyscraper and steered it's body upwards. Lloyd got little to no warning as the dragon began to spin rapidly in the air, letting out excited roars. Despite the fear he felt, Lloyd couldn't help the deadpan look that washed over his face.

'Now it's spinning!?' Lloyd thought bitterly. 'Seriously?!'

Lloyd was rapidly growing frustrated with dragon's antics and with a grumbled, Lloyd gripped the dragon's reins tightly.

"Okay, okay! That's enough!"

The dragon let out a huff but to Lloyd's surprise and relief the dragon stopped spinning and came to a slow. Leaning it's body to the left, the dragon steered into a turn before gliding down towards one of the city's structures. Right before crashing into the large building's roof, the dragon spread its wings to it's full extent. Catching the wind as it briefly hovered over the roof, and with a flap of its wings the dragon landed on the roof with a thud.

Relief washed over Lloyd as he placed a hand over his chest, his heart was beating rapidly. Lloyd had to steady his breathing before shouting at the dragon, "What...was...that for?!"

The dragon let out a cheerful 'Grrrooo' as Lloyd heavily gasped for breath. Lloyd had contemplated scolding the large beast, further. But before he could make his mind up the dragon took a few steps forward and pointed it's nose towards the city before turning back at Lloyd, expectantly. Bewildered, Lloyd raised a brow at the dragon and followed it's gaze. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Lloyd let out a sigh, he decided he was too tired to continue yelling at the dragon.

"I don't understand why you brought me here-" Lloyd sighed. "But it's time to go home."

"Tomorrow we can continue looking for Wu, without any of your little stunts. Please and thank you!"

The dragon gave Lloyd an annoyed huff, folding its wings in and squatting down into a sitting position. Lloyd had to grip the reins tightly at the dragon's unexpected movements. Once the dragon had gotten into a comfortable position, it laid its head down on the ground with a groan. Lloyd had sat on the dragon's back in shock for a brief minute before sliding down the dragon's back and giving it a stern look. 

"Okay now! I'm not in the mood for your games, dregon!" Lloyd glared at the green dragon. "I need to go home and get rest so I can find my uncle!"

"I need to be top-notch for tomorrow!" Lloyd declared.

The dragon lifted its head up and turned its nose down at Lloyd, giving Lloyd a look he didn't particularly like. The dragon snorted at him before disobediently turning away from him. It lifted up it's left wing, bringing up the 3 claws attached to the wing, up to its mouth. With a low grunt the dragon began to brush it's tongue against the wing, licking it similar to a cat would. It ticked Lloyd off that his elemental dragon had ignored his command in favor to groom itself. 

"Dregon, you need to take me back home!"

When the dragon refused to acknowledge him, Lloyd took matters into his own hands and climbed up the dragon's back. The dragon turned from it's grooming session to give Lloyd an annoyed look. Lloyd scowled back at the dragon.

"Don't look at me like that!" Lloyd pointed an accusatory finger at the dragon. "You're the one not listening!"

The dragon snorted at him and Lloyd frowned at it, in return. 

"Come on now! Let's go!"

The dragon continued to stare at him, not moving. Agitated, Lloyd grabbed the dragon's reins and jerked them downwards. "Up!"

The dragon hissed at Lloyd before moving its body. For a brief second Lloyd had believed the dragon was finally obeying him. A proud smile washed over Lloyd's features marking this as a victory. His victory was short-lived as his dragon bucked him off it's back. Lloyd landed on the ground with a light thud. He sat up on the ground for a few seconds and blinked at his dragon. He wasn't hurt, he was just in shock. His shock turned to anger as he stood up glowered at the dragon.

"You know what?!" Lloyd flailed his hands up in defeat. "Fine!"

The dragon turned to him curiously.

"You-" Lloyd jabbed a finger at the dragon. "-can stay up here if you want!"

"I'm going home! With or without you!" Lloyd angrily turned away from the dragon. "I don't need your help! I can use Airjitzu just fine!"

Seething, Lloyd stormed over to the edge of the building's roof. Grumbling, Lloyd began to get in formation to perform Airjitzu. Before he could even finish, something snagged the collar of his gi. Lloyd twisted around and saw his dragon holding him in place.

"What are you doing?!" Lloyd shouted. "Let go of me!" 

The dragon snorted and lifted him up from the ground like a cat dragging it's (angry) kitten from the nap of its neck. Lloyd let out an outrage shout as the dragon dragged him back to the center of the roof. Once in the center, the dragon gently released Lloyd's gi from it's jaws and he landed on his butt with a thud. Lloyd sat there blinking in stunned silence before coming to his senses. Before Lloyd could stand up and scold his elemental dragon, it circled around him and plopped down besides him. The scene was much like a dog would perform before going to sleep.

The dragon had curled its body around Lloyd, trapping him in a body of warm green scales. As much as Lloyd pushed and squirmed, the dragon did not budge. The dragon let out a low growl before closing its eyes and nuzzling it's face into Lloyd's side. Lloyd let out an annoyed huffed as he glared at the dragon but Lloyd had decided he was too tired to fight with the dragon, anymore. With a sigh, Lloyd turned his gaze upwards and was met with sight of a darkened sky and twinkling white stars.

A cold breeze whipped at his face causing Lloyd to shiver and bury his face into the dragon's warm bundle of scales. A loud purr erupted from the dragon causing a vibration to ripple through Lloyd's body. With a tired frown, Lloyd reached his hand out and stroked the dragon's muzzle. It's purrs grew louder and the dragon leaned it's head further into Lloyd's body.

As annoyed as Lloyd was with the dragon, he had to admit he was quite comfortable right now. Safely enclosed in the dragon's body and warmth, Lloyd's eyes began to grow heavy. Maybe he could take a quick nap but, then he was definitely going home to sleep in his bed. He had to find Wu after all. A little rumble interrupted his thoughts and Lloyd turned to the dragon. It was asleep and snoring softly. A smile tugged at Lloyd's lips as he examined the sleeping dragon.

Perhaps he could stay up here for the night. It was awfully peaceful up here and all the frustration from earlier had seemed to have vanished, for the time being. So Lloyd finally caved in, shutting his eyes and nuzzling deeper into the dragon's body as the moon shone dimly on the sleeping pair.


End file.
